Tameside Council

<p>In April this year, the Executive Leader of Tameside Council, Councillor Kieran Quinn, announced an agreement to resolve the concerns raised by parents at Russell Scott Primary School regarding the school playing grounds. The plan agreed by all parties, including the school governors, Tameside Council and Carillion plc, was to see the school playing field improved and a significant extension to the all-weather play area. As per the initial plan, preparatory works were carried out over the Easter school holidays and have been ongoing with significant progress in soil and drainage surveys, the planning and design and the identification of suppliers. &nbsp;Work will continue on site into the autumn and until complete. Priority will be given to extending the all-weather playground facility by the end of the summer &nbsp;so that as intended, the pupils at Russell Scott will have more space to play during the winter months. We will continue as planned to work with the school and carry out the work on the playing field throughout the Autumn with work due to be complete next Spring. Once completed, the facilities will be beyond anything previously considered and we look forward to a resolution to long-standing concerns.</p>

<p>TAMESIDE parents are being urged to apply now if they want to take up the Government&rsquo;s offer of 30 hours free child care for three and four years olds.</p>
<p>Currently all 3 and 4-year-olds in England can get 570 hours &ndash; or 15 hours a week for 38 weeks - of free early education or childcare.<br />
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From September 2017, working families of 3 and 4-year-olds may be able to double this to the equivalent of 30 hours a week for 38 weeks.</p>
<p>Tameside Council is encouraging parents to apply as soon as possible if they want their additional funding to start ready for the new term in September.</p>
<p>To find out more and make an application please visit:&nbsp; <a href="https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/">https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/</a></p>
<p>The scheme, designed to help working families and those wishing to return to work, is available to parents who earn on average at least &pound;120 a week each - equal to 16 hours at the National Minimum or Living Wage.</p>
<p>People who are on maternity, paternity or adoption leave - or are unable to work because they are disabled or have caring responsibilities - may still be eligible.&nbsp;Anyone who expects to earn &pound;100,000 or more won&rsquo;t be entitled to the funding.</p>
<p>Parents can apply to use the hours - 1,140 hours in total - flexibly at participating nurseries, playgroups, childminders and Sure Start Children&rsquo;s Centres.</p>
<p>Tameside Council Executive Member for Lifelong Learning Cllr Lynn Travis said: &ldquo;There is flexibility about how families use the extra hours of free child care and it will hopefully be a huge helping hand to those parents who work.</p>
<p>&ldquo;In many cases it will also give children the benefit of additional time in an early educational setting, helping to give them the best start in getting school ready.&rdquo;</p>
<p>For further information about general childcare please contact Tameside Family Information Service on <strong>0161 342 4260</strong></p>
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<p>PORTLAND Basin Museum continues to be a firm favourite with visitors.</p>
<p>The Tameside attraction has been awarded a Trip Advisor &lsquo;Certificate of Excellence&rsquo; for the sixth year in a row.</p>
<p>Visitors to the museum, in Ashton, especially love the canal-side setting and hands-on displays - with reviews such as &ldquo;Brilliant museum, kids will love it&rdquo; and &rdquo;A good day out for a family at very little cost&rdquo;.</p>
<p>Visitor numbers at the museum also remain high, with 112,000 people having visited in the past 12 months.</p>
<p>Portland Basin Museum, Astley Cheetham Art Gallery in Stalybridge and Central Art Gallery in Ashton have also been assessed by a mystery shopper from Visit England, who gave all the sites their seal of approval.</p>
<p>Tameside Council Executive Member Cllr Ged Cooney, responsible for leisure and culture, said: &ldquo;Portland Basin is a wonderful museum with so much to offer all ages and we&rsquo;re delighted that it continues to be such a hit with visitors.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Whether you&rsquo;ve never been before or visited many time &ndash; there&rsquo;s always something new to see and opportunities for learning and having fun.&rdquo;</p>
<p>There are lots of activities over the summer holidays at Portland basin to keep families entertained. Don&rsquo;t miss the <strong>If You Go Down to the Woods Today</strong> teddy bear exhibition &ndash; you can take your own teddies along for the adventure.</p>
<p>While First World War soldier <strong>Tommy Atkins </strong>will also be at the museum on Wednesdays 11am-3pm and there are <strong>Make Do and Play </strong>artist led craft activities on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the small charge of &pound;1 per child. And on Monday 28 August there will be bank holiday fun with the <strong>Let&rsquo;s Play </strong>event to include games, discos, trails, arts and crafts from 11am-3pm.</p>
<p>For further information and opening times see <a href="http://www.tameside.gov.uk/museumsgalleries/portland">http://www.tameside.gov.uk/museumsgalleries/portland</a></p>
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<p>&ldquo;BEHIND Closed Doors&rdquo; is an apt theme for this year&rsquo;s heritage weekend because every year &ndash; for three days &ndash; people get to see inside buildings they might not normally enter, or which open up specially for the occasion.</p>
<p>A prime example is Newton Hall off Dukinfield Road, Hyde. It&rsquo;s a 14th century cruck-framed manor house not usually open to the public. As well as guided tours, the findings of the latest archaeological dig will be available.</p>
<p>Newton Hall is only one of many fascinating buildings related to Tameside&rsquo;s rich history that will be throwing open their doors on Heritage Weekend which this year takes place from Thursday, September 7, to Sunday, September 10.<br />
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All the borough&rsquo;s towns will be involved, offering a chance to celebrate Tameside&rsquo;s architectural heritage and to visit areas not usually accessible.</p>
<p>Weather permitting you can climb the 139ft tower at Ashton Parish Church. There will be an opportunity to see the ruins of Old Hall Chapel, Dukinfield, and to look at Ryecroft Hall, Audenshaw, which was built as a mill-owner&rsquo;s residence before becoming a military hospital in the First World War and then the seat of the old Audenshaw Urban District Council.</p>
<p>Cllr Frank Travis, Tameside Council&rsquo;s assistant executive member with responsibility for heritage and tourism, commented: &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve all have walked past buildings and wondered what might be behind their doors. Heritage Open Days offer us a rare chance to take a look.<br />
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&ldquo;I have to add that the event wouldn&rsquo;t be possible without the help of the many organisers, guides and property custodians. I&rsquo;d also like to thank Tameside Local History Forum.&rdquo;</p>
<p>For details of the Tameside buildings taking part in Heritage Weekend visit <a href="http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/">www.heritageopendays.org.uk</a></p>

<p>COMMUNICATING with teenagers can be challenging at the best of times - &nbsp;let alone when its vulnerable young people in care.</p>
<p>But a Tameside Council children&rsquo;s home has won a national award for its &ldquo;innovative&rdquo; use of social media to keep up a positive and productive dialogue between young people and staff.</p>
<p>Both children and staff at the home in Hyde have worked together to develop a private Facebook group where they can share news, conversations and feedback.</p>
<p>It has proven so successful that it has now been rolled out across other children&rsquo;s homes in the borough and has contributed towards the home being recognised with a national Investing in Children Membership Award for good practice.</p>
<p>Young people use the closed and moderated Facebook page and the associated Messenger app to communicate with staff informally, express wishes and feelings, post to the group, fill in surveys and comment on certain topics that are raised on the feed.</p>
<p>While staff use the page to prompt general chat and discussion, post information, sign post to services, provide reminders about appointments and also praise and recognise young people&rsquo;s achievements. They also use messenger to keep in touch with young people who are out in town.</p>
<p>Young people have fed back that they like the page and find it easy to use.</p>
<p>Residential Practice Manager Paul Bradley said: &ldquo;Of course social media doesn&rsquo;t replace face to face contact but it is proving a very effective additional way of communicating. We work with a vulnerable, hard to reach group of young people who are in the care of the local authority and the Facebook group has helped us make some great progress in enabling the young people to get more involved in their care planning and shaping the service.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Paul explained the approach has removed the feeling that he and his team are constantly bombarding the young people with information, rules and expectations.</p>
<p>He said: &ldquo;The Facebook group is less confrontational and at those times when young don&rsquo;t really feel like talking, we can be sure when we see the &lsquo;thumbs up&rsquo; on the page the young people have read the information and can leave a comment if they wish.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Social media does have its pitfalls but we have worked closely with the young people to talk through the downsides and dangers and establish a position of trust and using it safely and effectively.&rdquo;</p>
<p>A 16-year-old boy who lives at the home said of the Facebook group: &ldquo;I &nbsp;think it&rsquo;s good and I use it a lot to find out what&rsquo;s going on. I like &lsquo;Paul&rsquo;s Positives&rsquo; where Paul posts every week to mention good things each of us have done.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The Investing in Children Membership Award&trade; Scheme recognises and celebrates examples of&nbsp;imaginative and inclusive practice with children and young people. Organisations applying for the award have to demonstrate dialogue with young people which leads to change.&nbsp; However, children and young people have to provide the evidence for the organisation and endorse the membership report because it is a children&rsquo;s and young people&rsquo;s award.</p>
<p>In their evaluation report, inspectors described the use of social media at the home as &ldquo;innovative&rdquo;, stating: &ldquo;By listening to, and working with their young residents, Paul and his team have adapted a medium young people are comfortable with to enable them to influence their own care and decision making within the home.&rdquo;</p>
<p>#ProudTameside</p>
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<p>PEOPLE&rsquo;S choices are at the heart of a special exhibition at the Astley Cheetham Art Gallery in Stalybridge.</p>
<p>The paintings, which all come from the Tameside Council collection, are divided into five categories - Renaissance masterpieces, animal art, portraits, landscapes and still Life - and each includes a people&rsquo;s choice: a work selected by members of the public in an online survey.</p>
<p>Many of the works on display could be termed hidden gems and are being exhibited for the first time in several years.</p>
<p>The paintings include &ldquo;Goldfish and Horse&rdquo; by BR Swinnerton who was a member of the East London Group. This was a society of mainly working-class artists best known for their depictions of deserted East End streets. However, they also produced portraits and depictions of domestic interiors. Swinnerton worked in a piano factory and painted in his spare time.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Goldfish and Horse&rdquo; was displayed at the group&rsquo;s first annual exhibition at London&rsquo;s Whitechapel Gallery in 1928.</p>
<p>The portraits section features &ldquo;The Maid Servant&rdquo; by William Arthur Breakspeare (1881). In an interesting departure from Victorian convention, Breakspeare is showing that beauty is not bound by class.</p>
<p>Breakspeare studied in Paris and was a founding member of the Birmingham Art Circle in 1879.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Holy Family with St Anne and St John&rdquo;, attributed to Giulio Romano (1499-1546), is one of the Tameside collection&rsquo;s masterpieces. It was acquired by the Cheetham family on their overseas travels in the 19th century. &nbsp;Like their fellow Victorian entrepreneurs, the Cheethams collected artworks that could demonstrate their knowledge of history and culture.</p>
<p>Romano was a painter and architect who studied under Raphael in the early 16th century. Another version of this painting hangs in the Louvre in Paris.</p>
<p>Cllr Ged Cooney, Tameside Council&rsquo;s executive member with responsibility for museums and galleries, said: &ldquo;The borough art collection contains some wonderful pieces of art. I&rsquo;m delighted that this exhibition offers the chance to see more of it &ndash; especially works chosen by the public.&rdquo;</p>
<p>You can see the exhibition of more than 30 works until February.&nbsp;The Astley Cheetham Gallery can be found above Stalybridge Library, Trinity Street, and is open on the first and third Saturdays of each month (10am to 3pm) as well as every Saturday in August.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.tameside.gov.uk/museumsgalleries/astleycheetham">www.tameside.gov.uk/museumsgalleries/astleycheetham</a></p>

<p><span>STICKERS are visible all across the borough &ndash; but on Monday (August 7) Tameside&rsquo;s free town-centre SWIFT Wi-Fi service will officially launch.</span></p>
<p><span>Cllr Kieran Quinn, the executive leader of Tameside Council, will be joined at Ashton Old Baths by Cllr Jim Fitzpatrick, Tameside&rsquo; Council&rsquo;s executive member with responsibility for information and communications technology; Dean Cookson from Purple Wi-Fi and Mark Maden, managing director of Network Correct</span></p>
<p><span>The project, which fulfils the council&rsquo;s Get Connected promise &ndash; one of its 16 pledges for 2016 &ndash; puts Tameside at the forefront of digital roll-out in Greater Manchester and the North West.</span></p>
<p><span>Cllr Quinn said: &ldquo;By making free Wi-Fi available to our residents and visitors, we are demonstrating our commitment to keeping our promises, and to creating an environment which make it possible for the borough to prosper in the 21st century.</span></p>
<p><span>&ldquo;The whole of Tameside will benefit from this. Free Wi-Fi won&rsquo;t simply attract people into our town centres, it will act as a catalyst to get them to stay longer. By doing so they will make more use of our shops and services, providing a fillip for the local economy</span><span>.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p><span>SWIFT Wi-Fi is an open service with no limits on downloads or streaming. Access operates under the same policies as in Tameside&rsquo;s libraries and so it will be completely safe for young people to use.</span></p>
<p><span>Each town centre will have at least three points relaying a Wi-Fi signal transmitted from council buildings. Ashton and Dukinfield will also benefit from dark fibre broadband, installed at Ashton Old Baths during its conversion to a digital media hub. Dark fibre offers the highest speeds and reliability in the UK.</span></p>
<p><span>Access to the free town-centre Wi-Fi is fast and simple. Logging-in can be done via Twitter, Facebook or as a guest. Once completed people will be automatically connected as they move about the borough.</span></p>

<p>CHILDREN have been&nbsp;showing off&nbsp;top investigative skills in Tameside Libraries&rsquo; Animal Agents Summer Reading Challenge activities.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>They have been taking part in treasure hunts, games and crafts and unravelling mysteries as part of the challenge, which is open to all Tameside children aged four to 11.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>The free fun activities, which are taking place in libraries throughout the summer holidays, have already got the thumbs up from local parents.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Danielle Noble, from Audenshaw, said: &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve not done anything like this before but my two have really enjoyed it. They like the activities such as the treasure hunt &ndash; something to get them thinking and keep them active.&rdquo;<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>James Hood, from Godley, said: &ldquo;It helps get my son interested in libraries and makes them fun. It always kills a couple of hours in the holidays, which always helps.&rdquo;<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Organised by the Reading Agency and the public libraries network, the Summer Reading Challenge is simple and fun. Children are encouraged to read six library books over the school holiday with a bookmark to encourage them, smelly stickers to collect along the way, and a keyring, certificate and medal for those who complete the process. There&rsquo;s a website and app to add to the fun, too.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>This year, every child who manages all six books will also be entered into a prize draw sponsored by Active Tameside for the chance to win an experience for eight people at Sky High Adventure, Total Adrenaline, Hyde Leisure Pool or iPlay Zone.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>For full details of all the activities see <a href="http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?DynEngagement=true&amp;H=s8mq%2BFF8Y8J%2F7%2FXrLp5ygdcwMPrxjsUdQBMch4EEnHhpCCjF3%2FNlfEnG%2B2pQPHPY6%2FUgws7wZ%2BQsEsfOIa0DnDPbY%2FfbEuzu2aSaL0kDTkXp9PSvp%2FvQOLNgssF5vI0uvA1S2U%2B%2FF5Q%3D&amp;G=0&amp;R=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tameside.gov.uk%2Flibraries%2Fsrcactivities&amp;I=20170803102357.000000041907%40mail6-34-usnbn1&amp;X=MHwxMDQ2NzU4OjU5ODJmOWI0ZTM1NzBlMzVkYjk5YzhmNjs%3D&amp;S=3u-KIbc6KRvdjylYdOZ48byu_noJfEjm4BtRItPdWVI">www.tameside.gov.uk/libraries/srcactivities</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p>IN the words of the England football team&rsquo;s number-one song, 1966 hat-trick hero Sir Geoff Hurst was &ldquo;Back Home&rdquo; on Tuesday (July 25).</p>
<p>He returned to receive the freedom of Tameside and to open the new &pound;600,000 antenatal unit at Tameside Hospital, Ashton, where he was born in 1941 in what was then known as the Lake Hospital.</p>
<p>Sir Geoff also found time to watch some grassroots football at Hyde United where his father played in the 1930s.</p>
<p>At the hospital, Sir Geoff was greeted by chief executive Karen James and NHS trust chairman Paul Connellan. After unveiling a plaque he met mums-to-be and staff. The unit offers care, guidance and support for expectant mothers and incorporates the most up-to-date equipment.</p>
<p>On his visit to Hyde United, Sir Geoff saw a game of walking football and met the club&rsquo;s manager, Darren Kelly, and members of the Hyde United Academy. He was also able to see the state-of-the-art 3G synthetic pitch Tameside Council has installed at Ewen Fields to increase the ground&rsquo;s use as a community facility.</p>
<p>The day ended with an extraordinary meeting of Tameside Council at which Sir Geoff was made a freeman of the borough &ndash; an honour conferred only 12 times since Tameside was created in 1974. He was presented with a framed scroll and a silver salver.</p>
<p>In her remarks, the Civic Mayor of Tameside, Cllr Joyce Bowerman, not only recalled Sir Geoff&rsquo;s achievements when England won the World Cup, but highlighted his distinguished record of charity work. He is currently working with the Alzheimer&rsquo;s Society as three of the 1966 team have the disease.</p>
<p>The Mayor commented: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a mark of Sir Geoff, as a footballer and as a man, that he has always been prepared to help others and has never forgotten the people with whom he played the game, especially in that glorious summer of 51 years ago.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Responding, Sir Geoff said: &ldquo;I&rsquo;m very proud to be associated with this borough, where I was born. I&rsquo;m very proud of the area, of my father and grandfather who lived up here, and of my aunty. I recall many, many happy and enjoyable visits. Thank you very much for this award.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Sir Geoff Hurst was born at Tameside Hospital&rsquo;s forerunner, the old Lake Hospital, Ashton, in 1941. He lived on Ruby Street and Cemetery Road, Denton, and attended St Lawrence&rsquo;s School, Stockport Road, until the family moved to Chelmsford in Essex when he was eight.</p>
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<p>GOING to school at The Heys Primary is a real &lsquo;Famous Five&rsquo; adventure.</p>
<p>Pupils get to keep chickens, build dens, grow food, make music and play sport as part of their daily learning.</p>
<p>These &ldquo;captivating experiences&rdquo; have won recognition from Ofsted. &nbsp;The Ashton school, formerly rated as &lsquo;Requires Improvement&rsquo; has now been rated as &lsquo;Good&rsquo; with inspectors highlighting how the pupils thrive in &ldquo;happy and motivational atmosphere&rdquo;.</p>
<p>They join the 96% of primary age children in Tameside who now attend a Good or better school.</p>
<p>Inspectors described the leadership at The Heyes as &ldquo;inspirational&rdquo;. The report also highlighted how pupils enjoy &ldquo;exciting activities in lessons&rdquo; and &ldquo;enriching excursions&rdquo;. Academic standards are also improving.</p>
<p>Headteacher Andy Card, who arrived in post four years ago, said: &ldquo;This has been a journey but I&rsquo;ve not done this, the staff have &ndash; they have all worked incredibly hard.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The key thing for us is to provide a broad and balanced curriculum to ensure the children enjoy coming to school and are engaged in learning. &nbsp;Yes maths and English are important and the results are great but to achieve this the pupils have to be enthused.</p>
<p>&ldquo;They look after chickens and learn that eggs come from hens, not the supermarket. They grow vegetables and take them home to eat. They build dens in Forest Schools and also learn to play the tenor horn. They enjoy learning, their behaviour is good and the results follow.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Tameside Council Executive Member for LifeLong Learning Cllr Lynn Travis said: &ldquo;This is what happy and successful childhoods should be about and it&rsquo;s fantastic the school as won &nbsp;recognition from Ofsted for providing a broad, balanced and engaging curriculum to help the children achieve their best. Well done to the pupils, teaching staff, parents and governors for all their hard work &ndash; I&rsquo;m proud to see so many Tameside children have the opportunity to attend a good or better primary school.&rdquo;</p>

<p>SCHOOL pupils have been involved in planning and naming a new room at Ashton Police Station to help children feel at ease.</p>
<p>The Sapphire Room is a safe space for young people affected by child sexual exploitation to work with police officers and support workers.</p>
<p>The room has been decorated and furnished to be welcoming and comfortable for children and young people and includes books, games and crafts to help them to relax.</p>
<p>Pupils at Poplar St Primary School, Audenshaw, took part in a competition to name the room as part of a session run by the It&rsquo;s Not Okay team. The It&rsquo;s Not Okay campaign is a Greater Manchester wide project &ndash; involving Tameside Council, police, health, charities and other local authorities - to tackle child sexual exploitation.</p>
<p>Y4 pupil Saffron Lawson came up with the winning name for the room and was visited at the school by the It&rsquo;s Not Okay team and the Police Mounted Unit on Thursday 20 July to be presented with a certificate and prize.</p>
<p>PCSO Lesley Edwards, from the It&rsquo;s Not Okay Tameside team, said: &ldquo;We thought The Sapphire Room was a fantastic name &ndash; it feels bright and positive and has no negative connotations and it&rsquo;s great that the children have been involved in coming up with ideas.</p>
<p>&ldquo;The room is already having a positive impact with the young people we work with and helping to break down barriers. Attending a Police Station can be a traumatic experience for any young person, it is important to us to make this experience as stress free as possible. Evidence from our support workers and detectives shows young people will disclose more information when in a comfortable environment.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Here are some comments from young people who have already visited the Sapphire Room: &ldquo;Amazing&rdquo;&nbsp; &ldquo;Nice &amp; Comfortable&rdquo; &nbsp;&ldquo;Nice Vibe&rdquo; &ldquo;Better than a Youth centre or Interview room&rdquo;.</p>
<p>The It&rsquo;s Not Okay team have received support from The High Sheriffs Trust and Embrace Child Victims of Crime among the many donations to help create the Sapphire Room.</p>
<p>The Mounted Unit, who work with the team to help build relationships with young people, &nbsp;attended the presentation at Poplar St Primary and offered the school a chance to &ldquo;Adopt a Police Horse&rdquo;, which includes a welcome pack and regular updates about their horse.</p>
<p>For further information, guidance and support on child sexual exploitation see <a href="http://www.itsnotokay.co.uk/">www.itsnotokay.co.uk</a></p>
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<p>FROM circus skills and treasure hunts to wild art &ndash; there&rsquo;s plenty of free summer activities in Tameside for families to juggle this summer.</p>
<p><strong>Theatre in the Parks</strong></p>
<p>There will be <strong>outdoor summer theatre performances</strong> of favourite children&rsquo;s books &ndash; from James and the Giant Peach to Dogs Don&rsquo;t do Ballet &ndash; as well as Circus Sensible performances in parks across the borough throughout August. For further details see <a href="http://www.tameside.gov.uk/theatre">http://www.tameside.gov.uk/theatre</a></p>
<p>Families are encouraged to come along with their picnic blankets and enjoy the shows.</p>
<p><strong>Outdoor activities</strong></p>
<p>From making music in the woods and creating wild art to discovering mini-beasts and den-building, get hands on with nature at local parks and country spaces with our countryside activities which run every week in August.</p>
<p><strong>Sounds Natural</strong></p>
<p>Thursday 3 August 1-2.30pm</p>
<p>Lymefield Broadmills, Broadbottom</p>
<p><strong>Wild Art</strong></p>
<p>Thursday 10 August 12-3pm</p>
<p>Cheetham Park, Stalybridge</p>
<p><strong>Creating a buzzz</strong></p>
<p>Wednesday 16 August 1-3pm</p>
<p>Waterloo Park, Ashton</p>
<p><strong>Go Native</strong></p>
<p>Thursday 24 August 12-3pm</p>
<p>Hyde Park</p>
<p><strong>Go Wild Outdoors</strong></p>
<p>Wednesday 30 August</p>
<p>Castle Clough Car Park, Carrbrook</p>
<p><strong>Museums activities</strong></p>
<p>Don&rsquo;t miss the <strong>If You Go Down to the Woods Today</strong> teddy bear exhibition at Portland Basin Museum &ndash; you can take your own teddies along for the adventure. First World War soldier <strong>Tommy Atkins</strong> will also be at the museum on Wednesdays 11am-3pm while there are<strong> Make Do and Play</strong> artist led craft activities on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the small charge of &pound;1 per child.</p>
<p>Portland Basin Museum will offer Bank Holiday fun on Monday 28 August with the <strong>Let&rsquo;s Play</strong> event &ndash; there&rsquo;ll be games, discos, trails, arts and crafts from 11am-3pm.</p>
<p><strong>Summer Reading Challenge and activities in libraries</strong></p>
<p>Children can join the <strong>A</strong><strong>n</strong><strong>imal Agents</strong> <a href="http://www.tameside.gov.uk/libraries/src">Summer Read Challenge</a> in all Tameside libraries with a chance to win an experience for eight people at Sky High Adventure, Total Adrenaline, Hyde Leisure Pool or iPlay Zone.</p>
<p>There are also <strong>Animal Agents activities</strong> from treasure hunts to arts and crafts as well as well as <strong>Explore Learning</strong> sessions from fairytales and legends to Japanese poetry. Find out more at <a href="http://www.tameside.gov.uk/libraries/srcactivities">www.tameside.gov.uk/libraries/srcactivities</a>.</p>
<p>Don&rsquo;t forget the regular <a href="http://www.tameside.gov.uk/libraries/timeforarhyme">Time for a Rhyme sessions</a> are still running every week as well.</p>
<p><strong>For further details of summer cultural events and activities see our <a href="http://www.tameside.gov.uk/TamesideMBC/media/ArtsAndEvents/CulturalEventsBooklet17.pdf">Cultural Events Booklet</a>.</strong></p>
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<p>FOLLOWING the revaluation of Business Rates which took effect from 1 April, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, announced that a discretionary fund would be made available to local authorities to help them to administer relief that would target and support those business ratepayers who faced significant increases in their bills.</p>
<p>This fund has been made available over a four-year period from 2017/2018 and billing authorities are expected to use their share to develop their own discretionary relief schemes.</p>
<p>The funding is limited and councils must decide their own scheme on which to base allocation.</p>
<p>Over the next four weeks Tameside Council will be running a consultation where we invite your opinion on who should be eligible to claim the new discretionary relief. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>We are committed to ensuring all our residents and business ratepayers have the opportunity to have their say on the proposals being considered for inclusion in the scheme.</p>
<p>The consultation will run from Tuesday, 18 July, to Tuesday, 15 August, and can be found at <a href="http://www.tameside.gov.uk/business-rates-consultation">www.tameside.gov.uk/business-rates-consultation</a></p>

<p>OUTDOOR summer theatre is back, and its bigger and better than ever. This year,&nbsp;each show will stay in a single park for both morning and afternoon performances, allowing for a much higher production quality.</p>
<p>The series begins in Ryecroft Hall Park, Audenshaw, Friday, August 4, when Gambolling Arena present an adaptation of &ldquo;James and the Giant Peach&rdquo; which was initially written for Dahl 100, the events celebrating the centenary of author Roald Dahl&rsquo;s birth.<br />
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On Wednesday, August 9, Stamford Park hosts Little Blue Monster Theatre&rsquo;s brilliant &ldquo;Dogs Don&rsquo;t Do Ballet&rdquo; based on the award-winning children&#39;s book by&nbsp;Anna Kemp&nbsp;and&nbsp;Sara Ogilvie. It&rsquo;s a fabulous feel-good show featuring music, songs, puppets and Biff, the ballet-dancing dog.</p>
<p>Week three brings something a little different to Haughton Green Playing Fields on Thursday, August 17, when Circus Sensible display their unique blend of mayhem and madness to enthral and entertain.</p>
<p>iDOLRiCH Theatre Rotto will be at Dukinfield Park on Tuesday, August 22, with their take on Lewis Carroll&rsquo;s timeless &ldquo;Walrus and the Carpenter&rdquo;. Come and join the hunt as they search for the perfect spot to hold their gourmet seafood picnic.<br />
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The 2017 series closes on Thursday, August 31, in Hyde Park, when Fabularium tell their amazing tale &ldquo;Reynard the Fox&rdquo;. There&rsquo;s live music, mask work, puppetry, physical theatre and acrobatics with a medieval twist.</p>
<p>Performances take place at 11.30am and 2.30pm and families are encouraged to come along with their picnic blankets and enjoy the shows.</p>
<p>Cllr Ged Cooney, Tameside Council&rsquo;s executive member for leisure and culture, said: &ldquo;Great stories, great locations, and all for free. What a great way to spend a couple of hours in the open air with your children during the summer holidays.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The entire series, organised by Tameside Council Cultural Services with the support of Greater Manchester Arts, has been branded smoke-free, so parents and carers are politely asked to not smoke at any of the performances.</p>
<p>For more information call 0161 342 4144 or visit <a href="http://www.tameside.gov.uk/culture">www.tameside.gov.uk/culture</a></p>

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